It's Only Water
by Gender Outlaw
Summary: "Haven't you heard? Ranma's dead."
1. Chapter 1

**"It's Only Water"  
**CHAPTER 01

* * *

_Apparently there is no sun in Seattle. -Pinky & the Brain_

* * *

"Haven't you heard? Ranma's dead."

The boy blew at his bangs again, then just sighed and swiped at the clumps of hair with his hand when it did no good. He glanced at the woman beside him while doing so, then back at his food.

He twirled his chopsticks in his hand and rearranged his rice in silent white towers of safety. A few pieces tumbled off his sculpture and he ate them, pausing with his chopsticks in his mouth to stare at the lifeless windchime instead of the guest.

Nodoka ducked her head and adjusted her hair pin, unclasping it to pull the strands tighter before refasting it. She patted the locks to ensure their security, than pulled her head up, sitting straighter than before.

"I wasn't asking about Ranma. I said 'Did you ever hear from a Mister Saotome?'"

"We heard you just fine the first time. And like I said, 'not for years'." Nodoka turned her head to blink her eyes at the door to the kitchen.

_"I had hoped ..."_

Ryouga turned to stare at the strange guest again, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "I don't think you've introduced yourself. How did you come to hear of Genma? That's who you're asking for isn't it?"

At the other end of the table, back to the kitchen hall, sat a young, thin thing with wild hair so ragged and dirty that it held no distinct shade. Small dark eyes stared slowly at Ryouga, thinking.

With clothes dressed more for begging than anything dignified, and a figure and facial fisque that matched, it was a wonder the being had been let inside and not just handed a few yen with directions to the bathhouse.

_"Vagabond..."_ Ryouga thought in contempt. _"Begger I bet he is. Trying to weasel his way some cash from that fat fool's old debts. Knows Genma's name second hand, I'd guess. He called him 'Mister Saotome'."_

Ryouga glanced at Nodoka, then got up to remove the 'boy' from the house. Physically if nessesary.

The fanged boy's slow, steady movements had the stranger alert and staring with wide eyes like some prey before it's demise. Hibiki was two steps from grabbing the thin thing's throat when Nodoka spoke again.

"Ryouga you ... you can let him stay."

The lost boy glanced back at her, then stared down unblinking at the dirty guest. Tightening his bandana he demanded again, "Family?"

The stranger blinked, then looked at the table, wipping at a patch of dirt and sweat to reveal pale, fine skin beneath. "I ..." a pause, "I have none."

Nodoka waited silently. "If we could have a name please?" She smiled pleasantly enough and listened for an answer.

The stranger smiled in return and said, without the warmth "... you can call me Ranko."


	2. Chapter 2

**"It's Only Water"**  
CHAPTER 02

* * *

_"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything."_

* * *

_"It wasn't supposed to rain." _

Ryouga stood tall at the end of the hall, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He narrowed his eyes and glared, blowing harshly at his thick bangs as they fell in his eyes once more. The lack of light from the window beside him made his features even darker than usual.

"Lost are you, Vagabond?"

His voice, though soft, echoed nicely in the empty corridor. Ranko stared unblinking at him from the other end. Several long, tense moments filled with nothing but sound of silence in their ears passed before Ryouga uncrossed his arms and pointed with his thumb at a door beside him.

"Bathroom's in there, Hobo."

Ranko nodded quietly and walked slowly through the door. Ryouga grabbed the wood frame before it could close completely and leaned close to Ranko, still staring. He sniffed sharply, then practically jumped back, standing as far away as his arm would allow.

"You'd better leave that shit you're wearing out here for Nodoka to wash. We don't need anymore vermin in this house then there already are," he finished with another glare that firmly said _'like you'_.

_It had felt a lot like flying. And for a few confused moments of falling backwards, arms outstretched and thrashing through the air to find something, anything to hold onto, he was. _

Ryouga's steps slowly receeded across the hall, carrying with him the tattered bundle of clothes. Ranko leaned against the closed door to the bathroom, stark naked, staring at the braid of hair resting in the small palm holding it. She sighed and rested her head on the door behind her, letting the braid fall from her hand.

Brown and black spilled away from her feet as she washed, the water spiraling in foul looking tainted water down the drain. Scrubbing the strands against her head, the dirty water multiplied. She poured more shampoo into her hand and rubbed harder at her scalp, as the tangles began to become more managable.

Absently rubbing against the red lines etched into her skin where her chest was bound so tightly, the water running into the drain gradually became less cloudy scrub by scrub.

* * *

He hit the water on his back, and the hard slap against his spine stunned him so much he almost forgot to swim, swallowing great lungfuls of water as he tried to gasp for air, choking.

'I'm drowning...'. His fingers scratched the sides of the pool as an unnatural feeling suddenly came over his body. He felt ... different. Unbalanced.

Genma muttered to himself so his son couldn't hear him. He glanced down the path at the boy struggling up the slippery path. It wouldn't have been so hard getting to the springs if the clouds would just let up like they were supposed to.

He had been reading the weather for years. Such things happened after being on the road for so long. The sky shoulda cleared off by now. Why was it still raining?

Genma readjusted his pack and moved a little faster up the path, slouching against the load on his back and balancing his weight across the tiny rocks slowly leading uphill. He could hear Ranma behind him, swearing. The boy musta fallen again.

"A martial artist must adapt to any situation." A snort was all the answer Genma heard.

'It wasn't supposed to rain.' 


End file.
